Thunder end Spurs' 20-game win streak in easy fashion

OKLAHOMA CITY - It wasn't long into their nearly unprecedented tear through the first part of the playoffs that the Spurs began to tire of answering questions about The Streak.

Players had developed a palate of stock answers about taking things one game at a time.

It wasn't until their 11th playoff game - Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Thursday - that the Spurs discovered the only sure-fire way to avoid that line of questioning.

Behind 22 points from Kevin Durant and a breakout game from unheralded guard Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City did what no other team could in the previous 50 days, pummeling the Spurs 102-82 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Left to ponder what it meant, Spurs forward Stephen Jackson had as good an explanation as any.

"That we're human," Jackson said. "We had a good run. It's just one loss. We've just got to get ready to play the next game."

In climbing off the canvas and within 2-1 in the series, the Thunder stopped the third-longest winning streak in NBA history at 20 games. It was the Spurs' first defeat since April 11 at home against the Los Angeles Lakers, a game they lost by 14 points.

In danger of falling into a 3-0 hole, the Thunder needed the game more than the Spurs and played like it.

"They played like it was a close-out game," coach Gregg Popovich said.

Durant handled most of the scoring for OKC, but it was a 28-year-old defensive ace from Switzerland who twisted the Spurs sideways.

For the first time in the series, Sefolosha opened guarding Tony Parker, who had 34 points in the Spurs' Game 2 win. He helped limit Parker to 16 points, mostly by getting the ball out of his hands.

A former member of the NBA's all-defensive team, Sefolosha wasn't surprising in that regard. What was unexpected: Sefolosha, who had scored in double figures just once in 43 career playoff games, pumped in 19 in Game 3.

"It was good to get a win in front of our home crowd," Sefolosha said. "And get our confidence back up."

Sefolosha's scoring binge single-handedly matched the output of all OKC players not named Durant, Russell Westbrook or James Harden in Game 2.

"You want to slow down Durant and Westbrook," Parker said. "We give him a lot of wide-open shots, and he made his shots tonight."

The Spurs got 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from Jackson, but little from more typical sources. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili combined for 19 points, and missed all but six of their 20 shots.